New Charter a must, but not possible alone: Deputy PM Arınç

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said that the government was determined to draft a new Constitution in an interview ith the London-based Arabic daily Asharq al-Awsat published on Oct. 17. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ

The government knows that it has an obligation to draft a new Constitution, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has said, while admitting that the ruling Justice Development Party (AKP) would be unable to complete the task alone.
 
“We know that we are obligated to draft a new Constitution. We are serious on this matter and ready for any sort of cooperation,” Arınç told the London-based Arabic daily Asharq al-Awsat in an interview published on Oct. 17.
 
The Parliament’s Constitution Conciliation Commission, which will mark its second anniversary on Oct. 19, is under fire for the slow progress of the drafting as the government and the opposition condemn each other for the lack of momentum. The four Parliamentary parties have only agreed on 60 articles, while 112 articles are still a matter of debates.
 
“We want to change the Constitution, but we won’t be able to do that alone,” Arınç said, in a more conciliatory tone. However, he slammed all three parties, saying that only the AKP was able “to represent all the layers of [Turkish] society.”
 
Arınç also defended Ankara’s harsh stance on the military takeover in Egypt as relations with the interim rule in Cairo continue to be strained and sensitive.
 
Arınç said that the government took Mohamed Morsi’s defense for being an elected President that was ousted by the military, dismissing suggestions that the unconditional support had been granted because of close ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.
 
“Whatever the reasons are, Morsi’s departure should have been through elections, not a military coup,” Arınç said, adding that they would have adopted the same position if figures from the Mubarak regime such as former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman or interim Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik were in Morsi’s position.
 
Together with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Arınç has been one of the leading AKP figures to denounce the military takeover.